London Bridge is Falling Down
by DreadNot
Summary: The players have all assembled for the final performance. Hellsing, Iscariot and Millennium tearing London to its foundations. Mixed spoilers and AU. Complete!
1. Prologue

_Ah yes, I must remember the obligatory disclaimer. I don't own these characters, I'm making nada off of my not so great writing and young Walter will never be booted from my bed._

* * *

_**Hellsing**_

_We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end._  
- Winston Churchill in his speech before Commons

Hell had come to London.The Thames ran with blood, the dead stalked the streets, the Vatican's Judas warriors raged through the city and Alucard was out there fully unleashed not just for the first time in generations but for the first time since he was "enhanced" by the Hellsing Organization.

•

The taste of charred meat, smoke and death rode the harsh winds and Alucard was free. 

Alucard exulted. He was free! _Free!_ And he would feast.

He released his soul slaves. It had been so long since he had been unbound to this degree. He would test himself to the fullest of his powers today just for the joy of destruction. He howled and his slaves howled with him.

•

Seras had swept Integra away from the hands of the Iscariots as they stared dumbfounded at Alucard's display. Now the two surviving Hellsing women stood on a rooftop watching the carnage.

Pip spoke to Seras in a manner that felt as familiar as her Master's touch in her mind. _I know you want to kill them all, chère._ I_ want to kill them all. But we have a contract. We have to protect Sir Integra._

Seras' face had a feral snarl as she watched the scrambling Iscariots, the converging Nazis and Alucard's forces of the damned. It was Hell on earth and as she watched, she knew that someday, she would be able to summon the kind of Hell her Master commanded. Pip was the first, but the longer she existed, the more souls she would take into herself. She had worried before about becoming a monster. Now she knew it was too late.

_Now _she understood why her Master was mad.

•

Integra watched the horrors. She was outwardly impassive, but internally she was a fury of emotions. Hatred, fear, self-loathing, grief and most of all rage, all combined to make her feel as though her chest would soon explode in a spray of molten metal and destruction. She was fighting as much of a battle as any of the combatants in the field. Her battle was to forge those emotions into a sword that she would thrust into the hearts of her enemies.

Slowly, the slight slump to her shoulders straightened. If her backbone had been steel before, it would be titanium hereafter.

Integra had told Alucard to kill them all, Iscariot and Nazi alike. She would carry that responsibility and the responsibility for the Hell Alucard had unleashed.

•••

**_Iscariot_**

_Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers,  
children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they  
have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward._

_Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more:  
the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint._

_From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it;  
but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed,  
neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment._

_Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land,  
strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers._  
- Isaiah 1:4-7

The Iscariot troops outnumbered the undead by nearly six to one. That is until Alucard unleashed his evil.

Firm in their faith, the Iscariots continued forward, surging against the sea of Nazis and the horrors that Alucard was manifesting.

•

Alexander Anderson shoved against the screaming tide of...souls?...erupting from Alucard's body. He shouted praises to God and exhortations to his compatriots as he pressed on, ignoring the lesser demons. The paladin's existence had narrowed to one purpose - to cleanse the world of the demon Alucard.

His lips drew back from his teeth and if anyone doubted that the regenerator was as much a monster as the vampire, that doubt would be erased by one glimpse of the madness in his eyes.

•

Heinkel and Yumie cut their way through the Nazi undead. Yumie was a force of nature, almost a living embodiment of the wrath of God. Wolfe Heinkel was the calm balance to Yumie's fury, fighting through the melee with careful shooting and an eye for the overall tide of the battle.

•

Archbishop Enrico Maxwell stood over the fray with his personal guard. With loudspeakers he exhorted his soldiers to kill everyone, slay everything, destroy! Destroy! Destroy! He face was alight with fanaticism and the bloodlust of those not on the front lines.

•••

_**Millennium**_

_"A single blow must destroy the enemy... without regard of losses... a gigantic all-destroying blow."   
_- Adolf Hitler

Is there anything more terrifying than an enemy that has no reason to be fighting except the sheer joy of blood and mayhem? The Major's vampires wallowed in the horror around them. They knew that they were superior in every way and that they would triumph in their quest to bring fire and war to the world.

•

The Captain pushed his way through the press of bodies, sending Iscariots to their deaths and destroying Alucard's phantasms with no pause in his stride. His goal was clear, as he made his way toward the Hellsing vampire.

•

The Doctor watched his subject carefully for any sign of weakening in his locks. The Angel of Death, now _their _Angel of Death, stood impassively watching the carnage. Walter had a special role to play, one befitting a tragic opera.

•

The Major's delight knew no limits. He had waited more than sixty years for this gorgeous symphony to begin. He had written the score, chosen the players and set the stage. He beamed with pride as his masterwork made its international debut. He paid little attention to Schroedinger as he popped in and out relaying tactical information and reconnaissance. Those details were no longer important, just sour notes in the nocturne.

* * *

_And now, my friends, the stage has been set. Our players are here and it is time for them to finish their work. Please hold your ovations until the last note has sounded._


	2. Dramatis Personae

_**Alucard**_

_Virgin blood is nothing to this._

Alucard was intoxicated with mayhem. Every person he had ever drained unto death was contained within him. He had been constrained by the Hellsing seals and could not use the souls as he chose, that was no longer the case. Not only were the seals released, but his Master had ordered him to kill every one of their enemies, to leave none alive.

How tasty.

As the sun rose over London, Alucard sent a tide of enslaved souls against his enemies. Those soul slaves had no choice but to fight to their utmost, but they were eager to do so. Dying in this battle would be a final release from Alucard's cold embrace. No army was more eager for combat. They weren't fighting for their lives, they were fighting for their final deaths.

The sheer volume and variety of souls to spring from Alucard's body was staggering. Stunned Nazis fell at the hands of old friends. Iscariots were struck down by ancient European warriors and tidy Victorian gentlemen.

And erupting out of the darkest part of the mass were two familiar forms - an adrogynous shadow-haired vampire wielding a musket longer than she was tall and a dapper man in an immaculate suit.

Rip Van Winkle and the Dandy began to widen the swathe of destruction around the seething mass that was Alucard. The Dandy Man's cards beheaded old companions and papal warriors with equal ease. Rip's telltale laugh rang out as she shot down the riffraff in Iscariot helicopters.

Alucard's glee was boundless at using the two Nazi vampires against their former compatriots._ This gets more and more delicious by the moment._

He was distracted from his rapture by a familiar scent. With no effort, he located his favorite papal regenerator in the melee. The familiar form of Alucard coalesced from the seething shadows and began to thrust through the chaos toward his old...friend.

•••

_**Wolfe Heinkel and Yumiko Takagi**_

Heinkel fired again and again. No shot was wasted, but it seemed as though there was no end to the enemies coming at her. She shot what looked to be a Mongolian man clad in furs as he ran toward her. _Mongol hordes? Is there no end to this nightmare?_ She glanced over her shoulder to her partner.

Yumie was in a killing trance. If it wasn't in an Iscariot robe, it was a target. Alucard would have recognized the expression of murderous rapture on her face. He would approve. She slashed and spun like a dervish. If she lived through today, tomorrow her face would hurt from the smile plastered across her face.

The killer nuns couldn't think about tomorrow. Tomorrow was a lifetime away. There was only the now, only the battle.

Heinkel dropped a clip from her weapon and jammed a fresh one home. Her voice rose as a clarion above the screams and sounds of battle: "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." She fought on as she heard other Iscariots join her in the verses.

•••

_**Enrico Maxwell**_

Archbishop Maxwell surveyed the carnage from his position well behind the battle lines. He was surrounded by elite Section XIII bodyguards. He wanted to see this victory, but he didn't want to get too close.

"Saint Enrico, yes, I like that." Maxwell was entertaining himself with thoughts of the adoration he would earn for destroying this vampire menace and reclaiming England for Catholicism. He felt almost light-headed with delight. He would reclaim England and he would see that Hellsing sow dead or in chains. He was hoping for the latter because the thought of her humiliation and degradation was sweeter than honey.

His sweet fantasies fled as the hovering Vatican helicopters started to explode out of the air. "What the hell is happening?"

The techs who were helping to guide the Iscariot troops couldn't find a source of anti-aircraft fire. Maxwell felt a first clench of fear. Those helicopters were his emergency escape route, dammit!

Another helicopter went down. "There!" shouted a tech. The tech was pointing to a location right in the thick of the melee. Maxwell could just make out a slim figure pointing something irrationally long toward the sky.

"Take out that gunner! Get troops over there and take that gunner down! Move damn you!" For the first time Enrico Maxwell realized that success was not guaranteed.

Maxwell remembered to pray.

•••

_**Alexander Anderson**_

His blades mowed down his enemies like wheat under the scythe. He dispatched Germans and Alucard's revenants almost casually as he stalked toward his true prey.

Heinkel's voice cut through Paladin Anderson's blood lust. The familiar words of 2 Corinthians, "...that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble..." he paused in his prayer, feeling as though God had just reprimanded him, "...by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."

What comfort was he bringing to the Hellsings? What comfort had God given to him? What were they really doing here? Were they just there to serve Maxwell's craving for power and vengeance against Integra Hellsing?

He found himself wishing for the blood lust to drown his thoughts as he turned and thrust, impaling a man who was formed of shadow and looked as though he'd stepped out of extras casting for Highlander.

Strangely absorbed in his thoughts, he was killing on autopilot. The paladin's unstoppable force met up with an immovable object. He lashed out with his blades and instead of his target crumpling under the force, the man in front of him caught a blade in either hand. Blood dripped from the man's hands, but he gave no indication that he felt the pain of the wounds or the blessed silver on his undead flesh.

Captain Hans Günsche looked at his opponent and began to twist Anderson's blades out of his grasp. His strength was frightening. A violent jerk flung one of the blessed blades away to Anderson's right and the Captain's inhuman speed and strength won him the other blade out of the paladin's left hand.

Alexander was just reaching into the n-space of his coat for more weaponry when the Captain impaled him on his own blade and pushed. He pushed through Anderson's stomach and gave the blessed blade a vicious twist that severed his spinal cord. Anderson dropped to the ground as though a puppet whose strings had been cut with the blade still protruding from his midsection.

He knew he could heal it if the blade weren't there, but he also knew the Captain wasn't going to give him the chance. _Not like this, dear God. Not like this_, was Anderson's panicked thought as the Captain pulled a knife of his own from his uniform.

The Captain's knife fell, but instead of severing Anderson's head, there was a blur of red. The knife fell and lodged itself in Alucard's shoulder. Alucard had interposed himself between the Captain and his intended victim. "Now, now. I can't have you breaking one of my favorite toys," he chided. "Do you know how hard it is to find good regenerators these days?"

•••

_**Integra**_

From their vantage, Integra watched the battle. She had been following the progress of the Iscariot regenerator as he fought his way across the open square toward what? Ah, of course, toward Alucard.

She saw the giant man go down before his Nazi opponent. She grabbed Seras' good arm and pointed, "There! The regenerator! Do you see him?"

Anderson had shown some honor and the willingness to think beyond the insane orders of the Iscariot archbishop. Integra thought he was a crazed son of a bitch who would probably benefit from hospitalization for a decade or two, but she couldn't stand to see such a powerful foe of the dark go down before her eyes.

"Take me there!" she commanded Seras.

"Sir Integra..."

"Shut up and take me there now! That's an order!" shouted Integra.

Seras caught her with her good arm and with a muttered, "I don't think this is a good idea," flew over the battle to the space where they had last seen the paladin.

Anderson was on the ground where they had last seen him, unable to move with the blade still lodged in his spine and preventing regeneration. Alucard was standing over his body shooting his Casull into the Captain round after round. When the Captain did not even stagger under the assault, Alucard smiled broadly enough to show more teeth than a shark and crowed, "This will be fun!" He launched himself at the Captain and they tumbled farther away from the body of the paralyzed paladin.

Integra crouched over Anderson. He stared up at her. "Sir Integra, you have good timing."

"You may not think so in a moment," she replied and quickly jerked the blade out of Anderson's stomach. He screamed but could do nothing more.

"Don't move, Hellsing." Integra froze when a gun muzzle touched her temple. She flicked her eyes to the right and saw a woman in priest's vestments on the other end of the gun barrel. A quick glance to the left showed her Seras fending off an enraged Japanese nun.

"No! Heinkel, call Yumie off. Sir Hellsing and her pets just saved me," gasped Anderson from the ground.

The Iscariot nun didn't take time to think, she ran and tackled Yumie before she drove her katana into Seras' throat. She remembered what Anderson had said a few hours ago about not being able to kill Seras Victoria. She didn't want Yumie to incur the Draculina's wrath. She repeated over and over to Yumie that she couldn't kill Seras or Sir Hellsing. Yumie growled but shifted her blade away from the vampire.

"Right," said Integra. "You two Iscariots can guard your man until his spine regenerates, I have other business. Seras, get me off the ground and I'll tell you where we're going next." She glanced over to where Alucard seemed to be toying with the Captain and shook her head.

Seras lofted them above the fray and out of earshot of the Iscariots, then Integra told her, "We're going to kill that pig Maxwell now. We'll need to come in behind his defenses if you think you can do that. It seems that Alucard has eliminated his air support in some manner, which should make it easier for us."

Seras drew shadow around herself and Integra and flew with the speed that had brought her to Integra's side earlier.They came in behind Maxwell's platform. Seras moved to quickly incapacitate his guards while Integra stepped up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Was it wrong to enjoy this moment? She didn't care.

"What is it?" he shouted as he turned. Integra hit him in the jaw with all her strength and he staggered back against the podium he'd been leaning on.

"Enrico Maxwell, I find you guilty of crimes against Her Majesty the Queen and order your execution to be carried out immediately." Maxwell flinched back, but he wasn't a field operative and he did not have Integra's training, strength or rage. Integra severed his head from his shoulders with Anderson's blessed blade. It rolled off the platform onto the ground below.

"Pig."

"That was lovely, Sir Integra, well done," said a pleased voice behind her as two strong arms wrapped around her waist and she was gone.

•••

_**Seras**_

"Nooo!"

Seras was trying to knock out one of Maxwell's guards without knocking his head off when she heard the unique feline whine of the German "envoy's" voice, "That was lovely, Sir Integra, well done." She thought she saw a quick movement from the corner of her eye, but faster than she could whip around, Integra and the speaker were gone.

She wheeled around frantically searching for her commander. There was no sign of Integra. Where was she?

She could feel herself starting to panic as thoughts of failure and all its consequences rushed through her head.

_Seras, that's not going to do us any good, _Pip's calm voice cut through the anarchy her thoughts were starting to dissolve into.

"I can't find her Pip! I lost her! I lost her from right under my nose!" Seras wailed aloud.

_Seras. Police Girl! Snap out of it. You've learned a lot about being a vampire tonight, can you talk to her the way Alucard does?_

"Don't call me Police Girl," but Pip's presence calmed her and his idea was a good one. Seras fought to quell her panic and control her mind.

She knew the feel of her Master's mind in her mind. She now knew the feel of Pip. She summoned an image of what she thought of as the essence of Integra and reached out to the Master of Hellsing.

Learning a new mental discipline in the midst of the end of the world is perhaps not the best time, but Seras refused to fail. She reached out farther and farther, her questing thoughts like ripples of water away from a tossed pebble.

Alucard paused for a moment in his fight with the Captain as his fledgling's mind passed over his like a cool breeze. He raised an eyebrow. Her thoughts had always been warm before.

His distraction earned him a savage attack from the Captain. He had to turn his concentration back to rejoining his torso with his legs.

Anderson grunted as a chill passed over him. Why would he think of the female Hellsing vampire now? She had always seemed so human, but tonight? It was almost as though she had only truly died tonight.

He pushed thoughts of her away. At least he was regaining motor control. He thought that if Heinkel and Yumie could buy him a few more minutes, he could return to the battle. He didn't know whose battle he was fighting anymore.

Seras knew that Integra was not on the ground. She shifted her attention upward to the zeppelin floating above the wreckage that had been London.

She dropped to the ground with a scream. Seras Victoria writhed on the ground seizing like an epileptic. She screamed and screamed again.

When the pain of what she had touched started to recede, she realized that Pip had been speaking to her the entire time. She could almost feel his arms around her, keeping her from harming herself.

"She's up there, but oh God! Oh God! There's something else up there and it's horrible! Oh God, Pip!" Seras thrashed some more, but started to feel control of her body returning to her. She was weeping blood tears from her good eye. She could feel her face wet with them, but couldn't stop crying.

"I have to go up there, Pip. I'm so scared."

_You're not going alone, Seras. You know I'll always be here._ She could clearly picture Pip's devilish smirk, _You know, never in my wildest dreams of being inside you did it work out like this._

Seras shrieked, but it was a laugh of shock at his out of bounds comment. Pip had said exactly the right thing at the right time to get her out of her panic and clear her thoughts.

Seras Victoria picked herself up off the ground and launched into the air.


	3. Convergence

Paladin Alexander Anderson stood at last. "Ach, still have a head on my shoulders, praise God!" He quickly pushed away the niggling thought that said he should praise the Hellsings for that blessing instead. 

From his towering height it was easy to survey the waning battle. There weren't as many figures standing as there had been when he'd hit the ground a few minutes ago. There were Iscariot and civilian bodies littering the square, but their opponents, both vampires and phantoms, didn't leave physical remains.

Alucard and the vampire who had stabbed him and nearly killed him were playing without him! That had to stop. Anderson ran across the square to the battling undead as he did his magician's act of making silver appear from nowhere.

Alucard had been having fun with the Captain. He took prodigious amounts of damage and kept coming, seemingly unfazed. He also kept his mouth shut. That was fine with Alucard. In his opinion, he was the only one who should be dropping clever one-liners in any fight.

At the moment they were standing toe to toe trading blows. The Captain had managed to decapitate him twice, eviscerate him once and had actually separated his torso from his lower body, although Alucard blamed the Police Girl for that last one. He didn't know what she was up to, but she had distracted him at the wrong moment. He made a mental note to return the favor at some point.

He was starting to think that maybe it was time to finish up with the silent German. He knew from Rip Van Winkle's mind what was on that zeppelin floating above them and he was looking forward to the main course in this delicious meal of death and destruction.

What was this? The German was opening his mouth? Alucard gave his opponent his full attention just as a deafening howl erupted from the Captain's mouth. Alucard could feel himself losing his hold on his form and pieces of his shadow self were streaming out behind him and tattering under the aural onslaught. This was new. New was good. Alucard adored finding something new.

Heinkel and Yumie were overwhelmed by the hellish noise that came from the Captain. It was beyond anything either had ever experienced and Heinkel felt sure that her ear drums would burst with the pressure in her brain. They both dropped to their knees unable to think, unable to breathe, bleeding from the ears and nose. Heinkel's last sight before blackness claimed her was of Anderson pushing forward against the hurricane of noise.

Alexander Anderson thought that hell would sound like this - a furious, wrenching shriek that brought tears of pain to his eyes. He was a paladin of God, an Iscariot, no thing of hell would keep him from his duty to God. Veins burst in his eyes to be regenerated as quickly as they were damaged, but it left a veil of scarlet across his vision. His nose ran blood continuously and his ears were bleeding, but Anderson did not slow his pace.

His eyes widened at the sight of Alucard's lack of cohesion. He'd seen Alucard's worst, he thought, earlier, but this didn't appear to be Alucard's doing. Instead it looked as though the Captain's scream was actually tearing Alucard to shreds. Anderson threw a containing spell of holy writ around the Captain, the pages pinned to the ground around the screaming vampire by more of the paladin's limitless silver blades. The volume lessened, but by no means could be anything less than wrackingly painful.

The decrease was enough for Alucard to pull himself together, literally. He threw a look at the paladin that Anderson could not interpret. Surely the demon knew nothing of gratitude. He looked as though he had enjoyed every moment.

_Judas Priest, welcome to the game, _the words resounded clearly in his mind. He growled at the Hellsing vampire, but could hear nothing above the Captain's continued fury. He built up speed as he rushed in to claim God's vengeance on the German who would have been his executioner.

The Judas Priest was coming to his aid? Surely not. The night and now dawning day were a wealth of surprises that would bear him through the next century with enough memories to quench his boredom.

He thrust his arm forward, meaning a killing blow, but found that the holy writs which had reduced the Captain's howl to something less fracturing also inhibited his ability to reach the howling man. He could get through, but his force was greatly diminished by pushing through the barrier. Instead of ripping the Nazi's heart out and reducing him to dust, Alucard found his arm seized and the Captain pulled him forward as though to embrace him. Both of them fought against the holy barrier and the Captain brought his face closer to Alucard's as though to give him an open-mouthed kiss.

Suddenly the mouth sprouted a silver tongue. The howl cut off as Anderson's blades found their marks in the Captain's mouth, neck and eyes. "Devil take ye, ye demon!" He leapt forward and in a mirror image of what had been done to him, thrust a long blade into the wounded vampire's guts. He pushed and twisted the blade until he felt it scrape against vertebrae and then cut through the Captain's spinal cord. As the vampire fell, Anderson delivered the coup de grace that the Captain had meant to give him, severing the Captain's head and plunging a blade into his black heart.

Before the Captain had even finished returning to the dust, Anderson had whirled around, blades at the ready against Alucard. Their eyes locked for a moment, the vibrant red of the vampire's glaring into the bloodied gaze of the priest. Before either could act, Alucard's head snapped up, following a streak across the sky that ended at the Nazi dreadnaught._ Police Girl._

"Look at me vampire and see your doom."

Of course Alucard smirked. The paladin sounded almost piqued that he'd looked away from him at such a dramatic moment. "I apologize, regenerator, but the last act of this tragedy won't be played out down here, but up there," he pointed to the zeppelin, "and the curtain is rising."

With that, his phantoms were swept back into him and his form dissolved into a flock of bats that swarmed into the sky toward the final arena.

Anderson's red-tinged world turned black for a moment as he reeled at the abrupt departure of his one true enemy. He had been dismissed? Like hell! "We are not done yet, blood drinker!" He disappeared in a swarm of holy pages.


	4. Reunion

Integra shoved her elbow into the person behind her and whirled, Anderson's holy blade still in her hand. She was inches from decaptitating the grinning cat boy when a monofilament wire dropped and wrapped around her wrist stopping her in her tracks. She opened her fingers and let the blade clatter to the surface on which they were standing. The blood beaded on her wrist immediately and Schroedinger sniffed it appreciatively before backing away. 

"Ah, now Fraulein Hellsing, where are your manners? A guest should not treat her host's staff so ungraciously." The comment came from behind her.

Integra took stock of her surroundings. She was no longer on the ground. Seras was nowhere to be seen. She'd been grabbed by that insufferable Hitler Youth and now her arm was restrained by a tool which was wielded by only one man to her knowledge. She turned slowly, the pain in her chest had nothing to do with recent exertions.

She took it in with a single glance before focusing on any element in particular. She was clearly on a zeppelin. The short fat man in the white suit she recognized as Major Montana Max was before her and to the left. He was joined by the cat boy, who sat at his feet. A bit to her right was a tall cadaverous man dressed in white. Directly in front of her, guiding her by the wires was a tall angular man in black.

A tall angular man...

...in _black_

..._black _hair pulled back in a ponytail

...that monocle perched in front of a _red _eye

No other man commanded the wires. "Walter!" _Oh Walter, what have they done to you?_

The Major cut in, "A cymbal clash would be so fitting right now. This moment was worth sixty years of planning. The look on your face will never be equalled by any performer in any theater at any time in history. Brava, Fraulein Hellsing! Brava! Thank you for staying alive long enough for this scene."

Anger overrode the pain, that was good. She glared her hatred at the Major. "What are you doing you twisted little creature? What are you doing to London? _What have you done to Walter?_" She let the fury rise and warm her chilled soul. She took a step forward to be stopped by a warning tug on the wire around her wrist. Blood welled up from the cuts and began to drip.

Integra was reminded that she was standing in front of three, maybe four vampires (she wasn't altogether sure about the cat boy) and was now dripping her virgin blood out in front of them. She noticed that all eyes were on the liquid dropping off of her hand.

"Fraulein, let us get you inside before you make a mess out here. We can make sure that your injuries are properly tended." The intensity of the Major's stare at her bleeding wrist belied the courtesy of his words.

"I don't think so. Why don't you just kill me here and we can be done with this farce? Alucard is free from the control art restrictions and he will destroy you and all of your minions. I will not play your games and I will not have Alucard show you any mercy." Integra stood straight and looked unflinchingly at the Major. It was easier if she didn't look at Walter and see what they had done to her retainer, her friend, almost her father.

"Fraulein Hellsing, the locks we have on the Angel's mind are unbreakable. Do not push me or I will have him slice you into small pieces while I enjoy that lovely blood of yours. It smells delectable and I have large appetites. It will not be fast and it _will _be excrutiating." The Major licked his lips and smiled. "Perhaps I would like you to continue to defy me."

Integra weighed her options. She could force them to kill her, but she couldn't afford the risk that they might try to make her a vampire. She could try to live a while longer in the hopes that Alucard or Seras would come help her. She could try to get through these "locks" that the Major had mentioned. No lock is unbreakable, after all. She determined to hold on as long as she could and then force them to kill her if she could not find a way to prevail. She inclined her head at the major in a gesture of assent, she didn't trust her tongue at that moment.

_Sir Integra?_

_Seras?_ Integra winced as a scream of pain tore through her head. She dropped to her knees, partly because of the agony ripping through my mind and partly to buy time before they took her into the bowels of this behemoth. Her abrupt movement brought more pain and blood from her wrist. She had tried to hold it above her head as she fell, but she couldn't prevent Walter's wires from biting more into her flesh.

Integra wasn't the only one to hear the psychic shriek. For the first time, the man she didn't recognize spoke, "It sounds as though Alucard's whelp has encountered our cargo." His voice was singularly unpleasant and grating. She especially detested the pleasure in his voice. She resolved to make his trip to hell as painful as possible. She rested her head against the zeppelin's surface. She breathed slowly, trying to push back the pain in her head from Seras' scream, trying to keep herself from vomiting in front of her enemies and lowering herself still more. Someone who didn't know Integra Hellsing would think she was prostrating herself. Anyone who knew her would know that she was marshalling her forces for her attack. She made a degrading, but necessary choice.

"Walter," she looked up from her crouched position. It was rather ungainly with her arm still held above her head, but she wanted to come out of this with her right hand intact. "Walter, what have they done? Remember me? Why are you doing this? I know that you don't have to be evil just because you're a vampire. Seras proves that. Walter!"

She could hear them laughing at her. She knew they wanted her to beg. Begging bought her more time and she still held out hope for the man she loved like a father. "Butler! This is my order. Come back alive at any cost. _**At any cost!**_" Her voice was low and fierce as she reminded him of their parting words to each other. "You said you'd follow my order as I commanded. Will you be foresworn, Walter?" She searched his face for any sign of the Walter she knew, but there was no change.

"Walter! Angel! Listen to me damn you!" Her voice began to rise. "You spent your life fighting these filth. You lost your family in Poland to them, you joined the Hellsing organization to be able to kill them and punish them for everything they did. You will not give in to them Walter, you must not!" Was that a glint in his eye? He was moving. Had she gotten through to him? No?

He was pivoting gracefully and the hand not holding the wires attached to her shot out. She had the briefest thought that she was seeing the true Angel of Death in action before she recognized his target. _Seras._

The young vampire screamed as the wires wrapped around her. She had no idea how this man on the zeppelin had even known she was there, let alone caused her the agony she was experiencing. She was coming apart. Something was wrapped around her, biting deeply into her flesh, stopping only at bone. She was jerked out of the air to land roughly on the zeppelin. The amount of blood that sprayed from her body made Integra fear that Seras would not make it through the next few minutes.

"Damn you, Walter! That's Seras! The Police Girl! Remember her? The little girl who refused to kill humans? The girl who wouldn't even drink her medical blood? Do you see what you've done to her?" Integra attacked as fiercely as she could, thrusting her words at Walter like a blade, straining to break the locks on his mind. He turned to glare at her. If she had been anyone other than Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing she would have flinched under that red gaze. Instead she glared right back at him. "Do you remember how terrified she was the first night Alucard brought her in from Cheddars? Do you remember how she had this annoying habit of giggling during briefings? Do. You. Remember. Walter?"

"Doc," the Major's words interrupted her tirade against Walter, "go retrieve that little girl. She's an original, we can use her."

_Be ready._ Integra didn't blink as she stared into Walter's eyes. _Be ready._


	5. Apostasy

_Be ready._

Integra continued to stare at Walter. Why hadn't he destroyed Seras? She knew full well that the wires could slice through bone as easily as flesh. Were those locks as inpenetrable as the Major thought? Walter's face betrayed nothing.

The mad doctor was standing over Seras. She was an interesting subject. The shadowy appendage seemed unhindered by the wires that were cruelly cutting into the rest of her body. The puddle of blood she was resting in was spreading. Doc couldn't resist stooping down and dipping a finger in it. Bringing his finger to his mouth, his eyes closed behind his odd lenses and a rapturous expression spread over his face. "Major, you really must try this, she is simply delicious."

Seras was revolted. Pip spoke up and she was surprised to hear herself speaking the words to the creep standing over her, "We're not a steak you pervert." _Hush you twit, don't piss them off until we know what's going on._ She tried to see past the man leaning over her. She could just see Sir Integra on her knees with her hand strangely held in the air. _Well, at least we know where she is. What do we do now?_

Doc was looking down at her, muttering to himself. "What to do with the little girl? She's all tied up right now. Probably for the best, but how do I get her belowdecks? Ah, yes." He stopped muttering and looked her in the eye. "You will be released from the wires. You will cooperate and come with me or Walter," he stepped aside to give her a clear view, "will begin to remove pieces of Fraulein Hellsing, starting with her right hand."

_Walter! _Seras had to force herself not to cry out to him. How could he? What was wrong with him? _Seras, he's not the old Walter, look at him. He's young._ Seras looked more closely and realized that she was seeing another vampire - the movement, the speed, the youth - this was Walter at his prime, even beyond his prime with the vampiric enhancements. When had they done this to him and how?

The Major had stepped closer to drink up the pain that would inevitably come from Seras' understanding of Walter's new position in unlife. He was not disappointed, but was intrigued by the way her face seemed to show two different sets of facial expressions, flashing across her visage with no real constancy. "My dear, you seem to be of two minds about this."

Rage had always been a means of opening Seras to her vampiric heritage. She reached for the rage while trying to keep enough presence of mind to focus it properly.

_Learn or die, Police Girl. That has always been the way._

_Master?_ Her focus was lost as she saw the bats crest the zeppelin and rush toward them. She had enough time to hope for rescue when they continued past without slowing and swarmed through the opening that led to the interior of the craft. Looking up at the Doc and Major she saw two different reactions. The Doc's face registered fear above all else, while the Major's rapturous expression was almost obscene.

He clapped his hands together and turned. "I must go welcome our star performer. Doc, get the women inside and don't forget our new toy." He gestured to Schroedinger and they headed for the entrance.

Integra had not looked away from Walter during this entire exchange. She knew that Alucard was now inside the zeppelin, but his failure to stop and help her was a clear sign of his freedom from servitude to the Hellsing family. She could not count on him. Seras was wounded and bound. She could expect no help from that quarter. She was on a blimp floating above London with no hope of anyone else reaching her. Walter was a vampire and seemingly under the full control of Millenium. Integra's options had become scarce.

_Wait. _Walter was a vampire. He had been a vampire for only a few hours. A brand new vampire would have virtually no control over its bloodlust, that was a learned skill. Seras had been lucky in that she hadn't been exposed to massive bloodshed right after turning. Walter was in a different situation. Would the pressure of her presence and words combined with the overwhelming vampiric instinct for blood perhaps be enough to get through those damned locks?

"Walter, it's me, Integra. You practically raised me. You've been my closest confidante, the closest thing I have to a friend. Let me go. Remember your duty to me and to the Queen. Let me go!" There were only a few ways this could end and Integra was tired of waiting for it to finish. She glanced back to get an idea of where she had dropped Anderson's blade, when Walter tightened the wire on her wrist as a warning, instead of freezing, Integra pulled against the wire. She had remembered correctly, the wires did cut through bone as easily as flesh.

Seras moaned when she saw Integra's desperate act. There was so much blood. She watched helplessly as Integra reached behind herself for something.

Oh God, there was so much blood. She focused on the blade, she must get to the blade. As her fingers closed on the handle, she felt hands on her, pulling her and she lost her hold. Fingers scrabbled across her body and she was wrenched around to see Walter's face twisted into an expression of hunger she would remember in her nightmares. She felt a small amount of triumph in realizing that he had released his hold on Seras' wires to come feed from her. He pressed his face to the source of the blood and began to feed, making small noises like a hungry animal. It was horrible to watch, made more so by knowing that she was going to slam a silver blade through his heart. She reached behind her again and managed to find and grab the weapon once more."In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished..."

Rage, fear, pain and the scent of Hellsing blood opened the pathways Seras needed. She allowed her shadow wing to spread, she drew the shadow into herself, remaking herself as a creature of pure shadow. Slipping the wires was nothing. All she need do was will it. She moved toward Integra, but it seemed that the scene between Integra and Walter would be played out before she could get there.

"...into eternal damnation. Amen." the prayer was completed by the man kneeling in front of her. Walter was no longer feeding from her. He had hold of her stump, but rather than bathing in the flowing blood, he had wrapped his hands around her wrist and was applying pressure to slow the bleeding. "Sir Integra, if you'd be so kind as to kill me after I finish your tourniquet? May I have your tie?"

Seras wasn't sure whether she should believe what she was seeing, but there were too many matters to be dealt with. It was easier to believe that Walter was helping Sir Integra than that he'd been the one who cut off her hand in the first place. One thing at a time.

She raised herself into the general shape of a human form and turned on the mad scientist.

"No." Doc didn't believe it. "You're too young to do this. You can't do this. You can't do this!" He backed away from her and into a wall._ A wall?_ He looked behind him and up.

"And where do ye think ye're going?" Alexander Anderson smiled down at the already terrified vampire and clamped his hands in a cruel grip on his arms. Only someone as inhumanly strong as the paladin could restrain a vampire in this manner.

Seras found that bringing her body back from shadow form was not as difficult a task as the initial change had been. Her body remembered itself solid much more than as a shadow and it remembered being whole more than it remembered being maimed. When she resolidified, she had two good arms, but still only one eye._ Sorry, luv, I think that part is my fault._ She stalked up to the Doc but gave her attention to the paladin restraining him. "Are you going to try to kill me now?" She was unconsciously flexing and stretching her newly regained arm.

"No, not right now, she-devil, I was here for your master and just happened upon your moment of need."

"Good, can you give me a moment before you go kill my Master?" He nodded curtly and she turned away. "Sir Integra," she called, "is it really him?"

Integra looked at Walter's face as he busied himself with stopping her bleeding and bandaging the stump of her right arm. She was very weak from blood loss, but thought she could trust her judgement on this. "I think so, Seras, at least for now. That bastard in front of you did this to him, though."

Seras looked at the Doc. "What did you do to Walter and what are you carrying on this zeppelin? I know it's horrible, what the hell is it?"

The Doc shook his head at her. He remembered himself and stood tall, "I'll tell you nothing. The Angel of Death will be ours again, your master will be destroyed and we will overcome."

Seras only looked at him. Anderson watched with interest to see what this surprising little creature would do next.

_I don't want that evil sod inside me.  
I don't really want him either. I don't do guys, but he has the intel. Knowledge is power, Seras and we don't have much time.  
Do you think we can crush him between to two of us and just get the memories?  
I don't know. I've never done this before.  
Okay, I'll do it, but let's consider ourselves in battle mode. He comes in, we crush him and take only what we need.  
Yes sir! _and a moment of shared laughter.

Anderson watched as Seras finished whatever train of thought she'd been riding. From the smirk that flitted across her face, he could guess it had been interesting, at least.

Seras moved still closer to the Doc until her body was pressed against his. She wrapped her arms around his neck to pull his head down to her and spoke intimately in his ear, "Do you know, that before tonight I never fed from a living being? I didn't want to be a monster. I could barely bring myself to drink medical blood. But you and your monsters have changed that. If I have to be a monster to help the people I love, I'll be a monster." Her face changed and she buried it in Doc's throat. He tried to pull away, but he was as helpless as a human in her grip.

Anderson stepped back in disgust. It was one thing to lend a bit of aid to the Hellsings during this time of war, it was entirely different to be party to this unholy feeding. It seemed that the pretty monster didn't need his help any longer anyway. He turned away from her as she savaged the other vampire. His gaze fell on Integra where she was being tended to by her retainer. Helping the wounded was more within God's purview. He crouched down by the fallen knight. She was pale from blood loss, but Walter was a veteran with many years of field medic experience under his belt. If they could get Integra some real medical care, she would pull through.

Walter was another matter. Anderson had missed the revelations regarding the butler. It now struck him that this man, while still the familiar Hellsing family retainer, was greatly changed. When Walter glanced up at him from his work, the source of the change was clear. Anderson hissed between his teeth and reached into his coat.

"No! Paladin Anderson," Integra's voice was weak, but clear and still commanding, "if you kill him, you are likely killing me as well. I am certain that there are many more _enemy _vampires you can destroy inside this ship."

Anderson struggled with himself. This had been a night of wracking changes for him. He had helped the Hellsing woman. He had defied an archbishop. He had betrayed so much that he believed in. He was a true disciple of Judas. But he had done all these things because at the time, they had seemed right and that to do otherwise would have been to sin. He stared at Integra and then stood and walked away, murmuring, "Apostle yet not apostle. Disciple yet not disciple. Believer yet not believer. Traitor yet not traitor. God help me." Anderson's form disappeared into the zeppelin.

Integra looked for Seras. She was lying on the ground, curled around herself. Integra couldn't tell from where she was what was wrong with the young vampire. "Walter, I'll be alright here for a moment. Go see to Seras." She watched him walk over to the fallen girl, wondering if he was really back or if things would change once more.


	6. Exposition

_Seras looked around. _This looks like the break room in the barracks back at Hellsing. How can that be? It was destroyed.

_"I don't know, Seras, but it's good to be able to look at you like this." She turned around to see Pip smiling at her. He looked the way she always thought of him. _

_"This has got to be a dream, but if it is, I hope I stay sleeping for a while yet."_

_Another voice intruded, "This is not my idea of a dream, Fraulein, especially when the last thing I remember was you being quite 'unfriendly' to me." Doc was sitting on one of the couches looking uninjured._

_Seras blinked. Both eyes. _Pip's unhurt, I have both eyes and that Nazi is sitting on the couch. _"I think I'm starting to understand. Pip, this is one of the places that we shared and it doesn't have the bad memories of where you... of where I lost you. Remember what we agreed before I killed him? I think this is where we do it."_

_"Do what?" asked the Doc._

_"This is where you tell us everything you know about Millenium, the Millenium vampires, the cargo of this blimp, and what was done to Walter. You will hold nothing back. Make this easy because if you don't, I have a feeling that I can make this really, really unpleasant."_

_"Why would I do something like that?" Doc seemed honestly interested. _

_"Because you're dead, I drained your blood and ate your soul and if you don't give me what I want, I'm going to take your soul apart."_

* * *

Walter picked Seras up and carried her back over to where Integra was sitting. Seras' wounds from the wires were fully healed, but she wasn't conscious. "My vampiric first aid skills are somewhat minimal, Sir Integra. She's not bleeding, she hasn't turned to dust. These are good signs. What we need to do now is find a way off of this blimp. You need medical care; Alucard is on this vessel, which in my experience with him means that this vessel will very soon lose structural integrity; and Miss Seras is of no fighting use unconscious." 

"I can fight." Seras huddled in Walter's arms. "I can fight, and I know how we can get down and I know why we need to do it _right now._"

"Schroedinger, where is he?" The Major stopped at an intersection of corridors.

"He went where you'd expect. He's with her."

Alucard stared at the bound figure in front of him. It was so wrapped in restraints and so withered that it was as genderless as any mummy. It was mounted on the wall like some sort of avant garde sculpture. He placed a hand on the creature,

"There she sees a damsel bright,   
Dressed in a silken robe of white,  
That shadowy in the moonlight shone:  
The neck that made that white robe wan,  
Her stately neck, and arms were bare;  
Her blue-veined feet unsandaled were;  
And wildly glittered here and there  
The gems entangled in her hair.

"You were beautiful and powerful once, Geraldine. How did those Germans get their hands on you?"

"She came to us." The Major stepped in to the room.

"She went to them," explained Seras as she began leading them to the gliders that were situated under the zeppelin. She moved them through less used areas as though she had been on this craft for years. Despite Integra's protests, Seras was carrying her. Walter took point, following Seras' quiet directions. The wires effectively and silently dealt with the few soldiers they encountered.

"She wasn't the power behind Hitler's rise, but she was the power behind some of his advisers. She had a grudge against a certain English duke and used her influence to make sure that her people would encourage Hitler's assault against England. She thought she was playing with them, but she was betrayed. Hitler's obsession with the occult had yielded some successes, one of them being the binding spell they used to capture her to begin with. It couldn't rival the wards that bind Alucard to Hellsing, but it was sufficient to get her into their hands and prevent her use of her more devastating magics."

Speaking quietly into Integra's ear, Seras continued her explanation. She counted on Walter's new senses to keep him abreast of the information.

"From there on the special unit kept her weak by keeping her drained to the point of starvation. They would take blood from her and only give her tiny amounts of blood when they needed more from her. The idea was to be able to create vampires in a manner as easy as an injection. Once they had their initial successes, the research moved along two lines. The first was to create more powerful vampires with the injection. The initial subjects were more along the lines of self-willed ghouls than true vampires. Even now the artificial vampires are not as powerful as those made the old-fashioned way. The other line of research was to enhance a subject who was already a vampire. This was somewhat similar to the work that made Alucard so hard to kill and was also a combination of science and magic.

"The research on vampiric enhancement went forward despite the lack of useful 'synthetic' vampires by the workaround of having Geraldine directly sire test subjects. It was made possible by a breakthrough that allowed them to bypass the virginity and opposite sex requirements. The things the Germans could do with science combined with magic were remarkable.There was no way to have her cooperation, but they found a way to simultaneously feed her and drain her to keep her weak. Then they could feed the subject on her blood with little difficulty. You might call it a kind of rape. The Nazis have been raping her for more than 60 years. The elite vampires were created in this manner - Joleen, Schroedinger, the Captain, the crazy gunner - they were all sired by Geraldine against her will. Then they were all subjected to the enhancement experiments. There were different results in each case. The Major made use of the best of the experimental results. He will be very difficult to destroy, but not beyond Alucard's abilities."

Integra had wanted to know how Seras had gotten such detailed information, "Pip and I had a very long conversation with the Doc. He wasn't very cooperative at first, but we managed to 'persuade' him to give us everything. I guess time passes differently when you're...I don't know how to explain it...when you're inside my soul? I thought we'd been in there for much longer than you say I was unconscious.

"Walter, you are also a direct creation. You have the potential to be a very powerful vampire. I know you don't remember it, and I'm glad for you. I know what they did to you and it was a horror. We're lucky that the Doc had not finished his work with you when the Major decided to put you to the test. The Doc was certain that if he'd finished the drugs and bindings that you would never be able to break free. They hadn't counted on capturing you after so many years, but they made the best of it when the Captain encountered you earlier.

"We'll be at the gliders soon. I hope someone can fly one. The Doc didn't know how and Pip and I don't know either. We have to get as far from here and as far from London as we can before Alucard and Geraldine have their reunion. I touched her mind earlier and I can tell you that she is crazier and more dangerous than my Master. I don't think there's even any sort of personality left in her, just an abiding hatred of everything that lives. If she is freed, she will attempt to destroy every living thing in London and even that won't satisfy her. She is ancient, she is very powerful and to quote Doc, 'she is the apocalypse incarnate.'"

_A/N The poem Alucard recites is an excerpt of Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge._


	7. Toro!

"She came to us. She thought she would use the Reich, but we found a use for her instead. Most poetic, don't you think?" 

The Major advanced into the room. The way he looked at the dessicated woman on the wall was possessive, almost loving. "She is the mother of more vampires than you can imagine, 'Alucard.'" Alucard snorted derisively.

"Come now, you were as delighted as I at the prospect of a glorious new war. Every aspect is beautiful. Every scream, every death, every win is a loss for someone, and both winning and losing are beautiful. You revelled in it the last time we faced each other. You can't tell me that you've changed in a mere 60 years. Not you. I saw your face in Brazil. It was a marvelous declaration of war. It was worthy of you."

Alucard sneered, "You don't know anything. You have created an army of filth. At least when you were human, your people had the benefit of being just that, human. Now you and your soldiers are lower than filth. You stole from this woman and attempted to replicate her glorious power through artificial means. You're not even worthy to be called a vampire, you and your army of pretenders."

"You would lecture me? You, who serve a human? You, who have the 'glorious power' you say we stole, and you yoke it to the Hellsing plow?" The Major clutched his sides as he laughed with genuine amusement.

Schroedinger pulled on the Major's sleeve. The man leaned down and his aide whispered in his ear. They needn't have bothered as Alucard's hearing was good enough to hear, "Major, the Catholic paladin is on the ship."

"Go give him an appropriate welcome, Schroedinger. Do what is necessary. I don't want to neglect our honored guest."

ooo

Anderson was doing what he did best, cutting his way through the enemies of God. He systematically swept through corridors and rooms on the giant ship, killing everything he found. They were no challenge. He curled his lip at the pathetic creature that shot him with its machine gun. "Do ye think that little toy will stop a true servant of God?"

Every one of them was the same. The vampires here were inferior creatures. These were the devils that had laid waste to London? Disgusting. He might despise the heresy of Protestantism, but he had thought that the British were stronger than that. Obviously he shouldn't take his opinion of the British based solely on Sir Integra. If they were all like her, Britain would never has declined as an empire.

With the deck he had entered on cleared, Anderson moved down. He would cleanse this blimp one room at a time. After the vampires were all destroyed, the more intellectual priests could move in and learn what they could from the Nazi ship. That wasn't his problem. He was a killer, not a scientist.

This easy cleanup was giving him too much time to think. He wondered how his fellow Iscariots were doing. None of the rest of them had his regenerative abilities. He hoped that they would not be sacrificed on the altar of Maxwell's pride. They were following their charter by killing the vampires that had invaded London, but they had exceded their charter by coming here in the first place. Maxwell's orders that no one in London was an innocent and that all should be slain sounded more like the command of Satan than an act of God._ I will never lose my faith in God. I pray that God can help me with my faith in the Church._

"What's that, Priest? A crisis of faith?"

Whirling, Anderson looked down at a strange creature. It wasn't a child. It wasn't a man. It wasn't a vampire as he'd ever known vampires. It looked more like some sort of fresh faced demon with those feline ears. He'd been briefed on the meeting that had taken place in the Queen's presence. This, then, would be Schroedinger. It didn't look like it could take Alucard's bullets in the face and still be here to taunt him.

"What would ye know of faith? Yeh gave up any chance of faith when ye sold yer soul to the devil." He lunged forward to throw the small vampire against the bulkhead, but Schroedinger easily dodged him. Anderson's momentum carried him into the wall and he spun around to see where the catboy had gone. He was leaning against a wall a bit farther down the corridor looking like he was having fun.

"It's not that easy, Priest. But I'm just a boy, aren't I? I can't be that hard for the big bad vampire killer to take care of."

Anderson threw a barrage of knives at the mocking boy. He ducked in an open door and Anderson rushed down the hall to keep him from escaping.

"But Priest, why are you chasing phantoms when I'm here? Does it remind you of praying to your phantom God?" taunted the boy from behind him.

How the hell did he get there? Turning once more, he saw that the boy was now at an intersection that the priest had already checked and passed. He growled and launched himself at the vampire. Schroedinger ducked around the corner. When Anderson got to the intersection, the catboy was nowhere to be seen. Had he run through some hidden exit?

"No, Priest, I'm over here. You really are dense, aren't you?" again the taunting voice was behind him. They played this game of ring around the rosie for a few more rounds before Anderson stopped in the hallway where Schoedinger had first mocked him.

Anderson was having trouble thinking through the anger this impudent creature was causing him. He was reminded of the old sport of bull baiting with him as the bull. His face flushed red. He didn't mind a bit of play with Alucard - the demon was a worthy opponent - but this whelp was not of Alucard's stature. How dare he play these games!

Calm and rational thought were not Anderson's strong suit, but his sinful pride wouldn't allow him to be bested by some crossbreed vampire child. "Yeh want to play, boy? Fine, we'll play, but I'm making the rules this time." Anderson backed into an empty room and watched the door.

"What are the rules going to be, big man? I'm no altar boy for you to have your way with," came that hateful voice from behind him.

Anderson turned to face the creature one more time. "The rules, little kitty cat? The rules are that _this _is the playing field." Daggers flew, not at Schroedinger, but at the walls, pinning pages of holy spells to the walls. "No more baiting this bull. Yeh wanted the bull, but didn't want to face the horns. That's not how the game is played."

Schroedinger didn't understand until he tried to duck past Anderson to dodge out the door. There was a wall of force he could not pass and he could feel the hateful priest's eyes on him, pinning him in place.

Anderson lunged at him with a shout of "Toro!"

_

* * *

A/N I wrote Schroedinger this way after I realized that while he seemed to be able to teleport, he never did it when observed. I went back through the manga and did not see one instance where he was observed appearing or disappearing. Even in Joleen's illusions, he seemed to be stepping in from another part of the illusion rather than "appearing." When I read up on Schroedinger's cat, (you can find a good layman's explanation at galactic-guide .com ) what got through my distinctly nontechnical brain was that the cat is neither alive nor dead until observed. From that I extrapolated that Schroedinger can choose to be neither here nor there (everywhere and nowhere) but only while unobserved, and that he's the one who controls where he is in those circumstances. You can't take your eye off that little bugger._


	8. Escape

Anderson rushed the small vampire. Schroedinger ducked the slashing blades, and as he dodged past the priest, struck out with hands that were now cruelly clawed. Anderson sucked in air at the biting pain in his side, but turned with the boy, cutting a track down the back of his left arm. 

They faced each other, and Anderson noted that the boy seemed to be undergoing some sort of transformation. His shoulders were broadening and his posture was less erect. Every moment that Anderson watched, the boy became more bestial. The paladin threw two more blades, but the boy dodged effortlessly. Even confined to one room, this obviously wasn't going to be an easy fight. The paladin smiled broadly. "That's more like it!"

Schroedinger was losing his human appearance quickly now. His clothes were splitting off his body as it filled out and became heavier and hairier. Anderson closed on him again and Schroedinger yowled and leapt onto the priest. Sharp teeth closed on Anderson's right arm. Anderson was able to land a blow with the blade in his left, but at the same time, Schroedinger's hind feet dug into the soft flesh of his abdomen and tore. The priest howled in agony and pushed his knife further into the beast's body. It seemed that the cat would never let go, but when Anderson twisted the blade brutally and shoved, he was able to fling the transformed vampire off of him.

He stood, gasping harshly, blade at the ready in his right hand while he clutched his stomach with his left. There was a moment when the world wobbled as he pushed his intestines back into the quickly closing rent in his flesh, but he was able to stand through it while waiting for the creature's next action. Schroedinger was also taking a moment to heal, but was having more difficulty because of the nature of Anderson's blessed weapons.

Anderson seized the initiative and threw a barrage of holy scripture at the cat. There was an ear-wracking shriek as the writs struck their target, but Schroedinger stood under the assault and leapt at the paladin. Anderson twisted and evaded the blow. As Schroedinger passed within his reach, he was able to rake both blades down the length of the cat's body.

Schroedinger howled again and twisted in the air. As soon as his feet touched the floor, he bounded forward again. He clamped his jaw around Anderson's right arm and jerked. There was a sickening crunch and Anderson's hand went limp. The bones of his forearm were completely crushed, rendering the arm useless.

His attack placed him within Anderson's reach. Anderson slammed the blade in his left hand through the top of Schroedinger's head, impaling him in reverse. The animal went limp and its grip on his right arm was released.

Anderson sat on the floor next to Schroedinger's body and waited through the agony of his right arm healing itself. He remembered that Schroedinger had had his head blown off before and returned as obnoxious as ever. To lend credence to that, instead of turning to dust or going up in flames, Schroedinger's body was still intact on the floor. Anderson grimaced and began the messy task of cutting the creature into small pieces, starting with cutting his heart out and severing his head. It wasn't until Anderson had doused the bits with holy water that it had finally returned to the dust.

"Another abomination removed from God's sight. 'But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.'"

Paladin Alexander Anderson went onward to do his duty of cleansing the unholy from the sight of the Lord.

ooo

"Well, Major, you should speak with some of the people who benefitted from your research. I think they might have different opinions of your goals now." Alucard's body lost cohesion, becoming a shadowy portal ringed with eyes. The portal extruded a chunk of shadow which began to take on a human form, as the first shadow began to take on more details, two more chunks of shadow were pushed out of the portal.

The first piece was gaining resolution, like focusing in binoculars on a distant object. The details became clear and before the Major stood a tall young man in a tidy suit. His long hair fell down his back to be gathered up by a bow a bit below the level of his waist. He was still the inky black of shadow, but he was clearly Luke Valentine. Nearby the other two pieces of shadow were undergoing the same process and soon the Major was facing Tubalcaine Alhambra and Rip Van Winkle.

Luke spoke first, "You said I was superior to him in every way. Do you know the horror that he really is?"

Alhambra, now the photo negative of the Dandy Man, spoke next, "You sent me to him as a lamb to the slaughter. Did you know what he was capable of and send me as a sacrifice or were you really that hopelessly ignorant?"

"You sent me into Samiel's arms. You knew! You knew and you gave me to him!" Rip wept and shuddered. Her face steeled and she looked into the Major's eyes, "You gave us all to Samiel."

The shadowy portal reformed into Alucard's smirking figure. "They don't seem to appreciate your love of war and its consequences."

The Major was shaken. One thing he had always been able to count on was that those who were dead and gone were just that, dead and gone. Seeing his former subordinates in this manner was unnerving.

"I lost my brother and my soul!"

"You gambled with my life and the cards were all his!"

"You threw me away as though _I_ were the riffraff!"

The three shadow vampires were advancing on the Major. He turned, but before he could even hope to reach the door, Luke Valentine was there, between him and escape. The Major drew himself up. _All aspects of war are beautiful. Every victory is a defeat for someone and they are both beautiful. I will throw defeat into the jaws of his victory and we will both suffer. It will be glorious._

The Major seemed to be quivering. Alucard watched with interest and a bit of disdain. Was his longtime opponent really so weak as to go to pieces already? He hoped not. There was so much more fun to be had. The quivering escalated to the point that the Major's body seemed to be humming. The humming increased to a teeth-rattling vibration. The three shadows had halted about a meter away from the Major and seemed unable to get any closer.

With a terrible screech, the Major's body tore itself apart. Pieces of him flew like shrapnel. Valentine was destroyed instantly by a gobbet of flying flesh that tore through his heart. Alhambra was struck by several pieces of his former commander and lost his left hand and part of his head. Rip fared better than her two shadow companions, taking only a small wound to her shoulder. The majority of the Major's body hit Alucard dead on. Alucard had time to look shocked before he was mostly shredded by the gruesome projectiles. His tattered body slid to the floor.

ooo

_Master!_ Seras' grip on Integra was painfully tight for a moment before she relaxed her hold again. She stumbled and the jolt woke the pain in Integra's stump. Integra bit her lip to keep silent and dug her fingernails into Seras' back. Seras' eyes widened and she looked at the pain in Integra's eyes, "Oh Sir Integra! I'm so sorry! Something has happened to my Master. I felt it for a moment. We really have to get out of here, things are going to get much worse very soon."

They hurried down the hallway to what Seras told them would be the final door. "There will be a bunch of people in there. They're always there for supplies and to make sure the gliders are ready. Sir Integra, I'm going to put you down out here. Walter and I will be able to take care of them with no trouble. Then we'll come back for you and we can get off of this zeppelin."

Integra sat in the hallway. It galled her to be so helpless. "I am not the damned damsel in distress!" She listened to the brief shouts and screams, but silence returned quickly. In a moment Walter returned and gently picked her up.

Seras was quickly rifling through one of a rank of lockers against one wall. She pulled out some odd-looking equipment and tossed it in Walter's direction. "Daylight gear. It will protect you from the sun. I don't know how much resistance you have as a newly turned vampire and we're better safe than sorry. I'll be wearing some as well."

The two vampires quickly put on the protective clothing and turned to examine the gliders. They were attached to the underside of the blimp by clamps that could be released by the pilot of the glider. "Are you sure you can fly this, Walter?"

"I can fly almost anything, Seras. It's one of my many talents." Seras was surprised, but relieved, to see Walter's familiar smile.

It was a tight fit. The gliders were not designed for three passengers, but they squeezed in. Integra sat between Seras' legs where Seras could keep a good grip on her. She had managed to convince Seras to find her one of the dead Nazis' guns. She felt much more herself with a gun in her hand, even if it was her off hand. Walter sat in the pilot's seat and took a moment to look over the controls.

"Shall we vacate this piece of hell in the sky?" he asked his companions.

"Get us out of here, Walter."

"As you wish, Sir Integra." There was a dizzying moment during which Integra was certain that the glider was not going to fly but instead plummet them to their deaths and then the wings caught the air and they circled away from the zeppelin.

"Walter, get us as far away from here as possible. My Master is going to do something awful soon, I just know it." _Master?_

Faintly, she heard him, _Police Girl?_

_Master, don't die. You can't die until I can have your blood and be free, okay?_

The chuckle blew through her mind, _I'll see what I can do to accomodate you, Seras._


	9. Resurrection

Alucard was pleased that his child was finally growing up. She had done as he commanded, she was learning, perservering and she had reached the point of desiring her freedom. This day would be one worth remembering for centuries. If he survived it. 

Darkness spread across the room and a myriad of red eyes opened within it. Alucard watched as Alhambra dissolved in a flurry of playing cards to reconstitute himself unharmed. Rip was eying the pieces of her former commander as they began to crawl back toward a central fragment like ghastly slugs. Her lips drew back from her teeth as she stomped on a gobbet near her foot. It flattened under her shoe, but began to reform as soon as she stepped away.

No pieces of the Major had touched the woman on the wall. Alucard considered whether that was accident or intent. He decided that it was intentional. The Major would not want to damage their Magna Mater. It indicated remarkable physical control. Excellent. He wanted to give his enemy a fighting chance, otherwise, this would be over too quickly. He watched as the pieces rejoined their master. The process sped up as more pieces joined the central mass. Soon the Major stood before them, unharmed and smiling.

"Fascinating," came a voice from the shadows. "You will be an interesting challenge."

"Indeed," replied the Major. "I would not expect victory to be easy were I you, Alucard."

Alhambra and Rip felt Alucard's hooks in their souls pull at them. The message was clear. _Attack_.

ooo

Anderson heard voices. One was the distinctive bass of Hellsing's master vampire. The priest's pulse sped and he hurried toward his enemy.

Anderson's body blocked the door into the room. He took stock of the situation. There were three people in the room that he could see. None of them was Alucard. Two of them were clearly unnatural creatures of darkness in the most literal of senses. The third was a short man in a white coat, facing away from him. It didn't matter. There were no innocents on this ship of the damned, not the vampires, not him, not the Hellsing woman, no one. Anderson was coming to the conclusion that innocence no longer existed in this world of blood and flames.

He didn't understand what scene he had come upon as the two dark demons attacked the third. One threw a flurry of what appeared to be playing cards at the man in white while the other aimed an absolutely enormous..._rifle? No, a musket_...an enormous musket at the short man.

The cards were an unexpected weapon. Anderson watched in amazement as they slashed across their target, leaving dozens of bleeding wounds across his body._ Ah, much like my holy writ._

The sound of the musket was a tremendous explosion in the confined space. The already bleeding man's body jerked as it was hit. It jerked again and again as though hit with a fusillade of bullets when only one shot had been fired. The slim gunner lowered her weapon and watched the continued jerking of the target.

Suddenly the man stilled. He held out his hand and dropped the musket ball on the floor. He looked at his two attackers and spoke for the first time since Anderson had arrived, "Do you feel better now, my lieutenants? Allow me to retort." He lashed out, palms together, and buried his hands in the tall man's chest. _No_, Anderson revised his thought, his hands had gone _through _the other man's chest. The small man then spread his hands in what would have been a gracious gesture if he hadn't been up to his elbows in another person's body. Instead, it was a killing gesture which tore his victim in two. The tall man dissipated into shadows which went up like smoke around the man's hands.

He turned. "Lieutenant Van Winkle, it's true that you are in Samiel's clutches, but I can release you. Come to me. Come to me, Rip, and let me free you."

The gunner swayed. From Anderson's vantage it seemed that she wanted to go to him, but was restrained. Her face displayed her emotions clearly. Anderson was surprised to see a demon cry. Black tears rolled down her black face and she snarled toward something he could not see in the shadows in the back of the room. Anderson was transfixed by the confusing drama unfolding before him.

Slowly, she raised her musket again. "My warhead will punish all without distinction." Her voice shook, but her gun did not.

Her opponent shook his head and lunged before she fired. He violently pulled her gun from her hands and threw it behind him. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her face down to his. Anderson heard his quiet, "Aufwiedersehen, Rip," before he savaged her throat and tore her head off of her body. She dissolved into misty shadows.

The victor turned toward the back of the room. "Do you have any more of my people to throw at me, Alucard, or shall we bring this down to just the _three _of us." Anderson started when the man glanced over his shoulder directly at him. "Did you enjoy the show, Catholic?"

_So Alucard _is _here, is he?_ "It is a pleasure to watch demons do my work for me. It illustrates why evil can never prevail. It feeds even on itself."_  
_

Alucard's laugh drifted from the back of the room like a curse. "No, Major, no more preliminaries. I can't tell you how happy your power makes me!"

Dozens of red eyes shone from the part of the room Anderson had merely thought unlit.

Gunshots rang out. Apparently the sounds of this battle had attracted some of the soldiers left on the blimp. Anderson felt the burn of bullets as they lodged in his flesh. Reluctantly, he turned from Alucard and the Major to deal with more immediate problems.

ooo

Alucard watched the Major as he advanced. What was this man going to do next? He could hear the Judas Priest as he disposed of the trash that had arrived. It was good that he had come. They weren't worthy of his personal attention. The Vatican whipping boy could take care of that filth.

The Major drew a knife from its sheath on his belt. The silver shone on the relatively short blade, a mere eight inches. _Apparently the Major feels he has nothing to compensate for. _Alucard's laugh rang out unexpectedly.

With a speed that would have staggered Luke Valentine, the Major swept across Alucard's spread out body. The knife drew a line of burning pain along its path and Alucard was surprised to see his blood flowing black from the wound. It was shocking to find a weapon that would injure him in this form. The pain was staggering, which made it all the more welcome.

He reached out with a dozen arms but found that he could not get a grip on the Major. The man was too fast and it seemed as though he knew every place that Alucard's grasp would fall.

"I made use of the best of the experimental findings, Alucard. You expected that, ja?" He ducked in and drew another line of fire across his enemy's "body."

"I acquired a speed to excel that of the elder Valentine." Another burning slash.

"Alhambra's interesting ability to 'go to pieces.'" He cut again, dodging another attempt by the writhing shadows to grab him.

"And Jolene's marvelous use of her opponent's psyche." Instead of another cut, the Major shot his fist into the air and Alucard was overwhelmed with memories.

_Mina. She was so strong, so lovely, so rare. He could not resist her from the moment he saw her portrait in Harker's locket. She was to be his true bride. One who came to him of her own will, with her own strengths_...

Flashes of their time together came at him fast and furious. _Mina in the moonlight. Mina, head thrown back in laughter. Mina, clinging to him as he drank from her. Mina. Mina. Mina. _

_AND THEY TOOK HER FROM ME!_

_Mina with the scar of the Eucharist on her forehead. Mina, weeping as she was dragged away from him. Mina, as she grew old and died as he watched from a distance, bound by the damnable Hellsing seals to never come anywhere near her. _

The Major stared blankly forward, seeing what Alucard was remembering rather than his enemy's amorphous form writhing in agony before him.

ooo

Things had gone quiet when Anderson returned from his vermin extermination. He didn't expect that Alucard would have finished off the strange German so quickly. He stared as he entered the room and saw the German standing motionless while Alucard's demonic form flailed around randomly. _What manner of vile sorcery is this?_

It was irrelevant. What mattered was destroying the creatures of darkness before him. Anderson threw a binding spell on the walls before advancing to destroy the first of his remaining enemies.

His holy blades easily removed the Major's head. He was utterly taken by surprise when the man's headless body turned, grabbed him with inhuman strength and threw him against the wall behind Alucard.

ooo

Alucard returned from his memories filled with pain and rage. The paladin flew past him and he heard bones crunch and blood splatter as he hit the wall. The vampire was no longer having fun. Of all the ways to harm him, the Major had found the only one that could take away his delight in mayhem. Alucard was done playing.

His mass rose up like a tidal wave and swept over the Major's body and severed head as the body was reaching for its lost part. They were absorbed into him as though they had never existed. Alucard returned to his more comfortable human form and stood unmoving, staring at the floor while he recovered his emotional equilibrium after the Major's ill-considered attack.

A woman moaned behind him.

He turned to see that Anderson had hit near Geraldine. The dent in the wall made it clear where he had been thrown. There was a clear stain of blood on the wall from where it had sprayed from him on impact. Geraldine was in its path and it had revived her. Anderson was slumped on the floor at her feet. What looked like a thorny vine seemingly grew from her chest and was wrapped around him, feeding from him and taking the blood, the life, to its Mistress. Roses blossomed on the vine and Geraldine's eyes opened and fastened on Alucard.

ooo

The glider circled in the updraft, gaining altitude quickly. "Sir Integra, this craft is capable of taking us practically anywhere in England. It's quite possible we could cross the Channel into France as well, but that is slightly more risky. I'd prefer to stay over land. What are your orders?"

Seras cut in, "We need to get as far from London as we can and we need to find a hospital for Sir Integra." She felt Integra stiffen against her. "I'm sorry, Sir Integra, and I know I keep saying this, but my Master is going to make an even worse mess of the city soon and I am very worried about you and the amount of blood you have lost."

"Birmingham, Walter. There's an airport, a hospital and an armory. We'll take care of all of our priorities in one place." Integra looked over her shoulder at Seras, "If 120 miles isn't far enough from London, I doubt that anywhere will be far enough."

"Birmingham it is, Sir Integra. We'll be there shortly."

_

* * *

A/N Forgive me for the Pulp Fiction quote. Hirano does it often enough and I just couldn't resist. One more chapter, kiddies. I told my SO when he asked back around chapter 11 that I thought it would take two or three more chapters to finish. He asked me again today how long I thought it would take and I told him two or three chapters. According to him, at this rate, I will be writing a five book trilogy. Heaven forfend. This little endeavor has been taxing enough.  
_


	10. Goddess

The sweet smell of roses filled the room. The flowers that bloomed were the same red as Geraldine's eyes, both put to shame by the fiery red of her hair. More vines burst forth from under the bindings, tearing them and lowering her as gently to the floor as the arms of a lover. Her hair writhed around her, covering her nudity in immodest modesty. 

She stared impassively at the fallen paladin. Vines wrapped around his arms and hoisted him into the air before her in a crucified posture. His crushed skull was reforming, more slowly than usual because of the strain on his body from Geraldine's servant thorns, but still the man fought to heal. His head lolled and he groaned but did not find his way to consciousness.

Alucard watched, choosing not to interrupt her so soon after her awakening. He remembered Geraldine when he had been young and newly turned, and even then she had been ancient. She was the inspiration for so many goddesses that humans had trembled before and sacrificed to in order to appease her. She was terrible and beautiful and remorseless. In the past she had taken mortal men as her consorts before killing them to feed her bloody vines and to bring fertility to the lands where she lived. Her worshippers feared and adored her. She was all that a goddess should be, bringing both life and death in equal measure. It had been so long since he had had the pleasure of seeing a vampire who knew what it was to wield power and did not fear it. Longer still since it had been a beautiful woman. It was hard to believe that those Nazi dogs were able to bring her so low for so long. _That is what we get for becoming involved in human affairs._

Anderson groaned again and his eyes fluttered open. He was floating in an agony that was so transcendant as to be almost orgasmic. What he saw before him took him back to his childhood and the stories his Irish gran would tell him of the beautiful and fierce goddess of battle. "Morrigan," he named her, and knew despair.

The name brought a light to her eyes that had not been there before. Shadows behind her heaved and Anderson was sure he saw a great raven, red eyes glaring into his soul. He closed his eyes as a pain drove behind his eyes. Every moment of his life was picked over and examined. Never had he felt so small and meaningless as he did while the Morrigan rifled his mind like a poorly organized filing cabinet. Certain memories seemed to interest her more than others, they would flash through his mind and then be replayed in exacting detail, his gran and her stories of pagan gods, his ordination, his transformation into a regenerator, his divine duty to kill the creatures of darkness, his first encounter with Alucard, the vampire's little fledgling, every memory of Integra Hellsing, recent events, his crisis of faith and the destruction of London.

His head had fallen back and his eyes had closed under her mental assault. He felt his position shift and he forced his eyes open. Her vines had raised her up, putting her face inches from his. She was examining his features intently. _What will you give me if I let you live?_

_What will I give you? I have nothing to give._

_Not true. You have given me the keys to my bonds. You have given me that, and for that alone I can promise you a swift death, but, if you give me all that you are, I will give you your life._

_Would you want a servant so weak as to serve you for such a trifling payment?_

She laughed in his mind, although her face remained expressionless. _You are not weak. It takes strength to question your blind faith. It would take strength for you to serve me. The coward's way out would be for you to cling to that which you already doubt. See me, Paladin Alexander Anderson. See me as my glory has been before and will be again._

His body spasmed as he saw battlefields littered with bodies, endless arenas of death. He saw her presiding over spring festivals, births, deaths and burials. He saw her young and beautiful. He saw her old and withered. He saw her in majesty and in despair. She thrust deeper into his mind and he saw the awesome power and beauty of a goddess, closer and more intimately than any experience he had ever had with his Catholic God. He wept in an ecstasy of despair as he knew that he would hereafter be a fallen paladin, an apostate, because there was no way he could deny this goddess before him. _I will serve._

Her smile was a physical pleasure. Her face did not change, but he could feel the smile caress his entire body, soothing his physical and emotional pains, laying a balm on the burning agony in his soul. Y_ou are mine, Alexander Anderson, now and forever. I lay this charge on you - be my warrior. Continue your fight against the creatures that would take what is rightfully mine. Wear your priest's robes if you want, pray in a cathedral if you want, pray in whatever manner you choose, but know that every prayer, every deed, every moment of your life is now done in my name. You are mine and I will come to claim what is mine in the fullness of time._

The vines lowered him to the ground. His legs would not hold him and the tendrils supported him until he was kneeling before his Goddess. They withdrew, gently pulling their thorns from his flesh. Blood flowed and the punctures sealed, leaving scars over his entire body. _A reminder, Alexander. Just a reminder. You must leave. I have other business to attend to and your work in London is not done._ A vision of Heinkel and Yumie barricaded in a ruined building and besieged by vampires blazed in his mind, followed by visions of vampires overrunning Catholic barricades and killing men and women in Iscariot robes._ I don't want you to abandon your companions. I just want you to serve me above all else. Now go._

Anderson pulled himself up and stood before her. He wondered for a moment if his spells would still work and was answered as the pages swirled around him and carried him away.

ooo

Wolfe Heinkel was nearly out of bullets. She and Yumie had managed to find a building that still had some structural integrity and had piled furniture in front of the doors and windows. She was choosing her shots carefully, but it wouldn't be long before she was forced to beat the attacking vampires in the face with her empty pistols. Yumie was staying away from the openings and limiting herself to stabbing any vampire stupid enough to try to get in. Their part of the battle would be over soon. Heinkel had already said her prayers and made her apologies to God for her failures. She hoped He'd understand that she'd done her best.

A sound like someone riffling quickly through the pages of a book heralded Anderson's arrival. The bloodstained paladin had never been a more welcome sight to Heinkel and she said a quick prayer of thanks.

ooo

Alucard did not understand what he'd just witnessed. He had expected Geraldine to drain the paladin and toss him aside, an empty husk. Instead Anderson had called her Morrigan, they had shared meaningful eye contact and she had let him go. She had let him go? Where was the blood-starved madness? Where was the shredded flesh? Where were death and torture and a queen of vampires unleashed?

_How bloody disappointing._

_Are you judging me, Vlad? _The words blew through his mind like a hot wind.

"I don't answer to that name anymore, Geraldine."

_I don't answer to that name anymore, Vlad._ She still had not spoken aloud since her awakening.

"Touche. If you would be gracious enough to call me Alucard, I will return the courtesy."

_Morrigan. I am the Morrigan. I allowed myself to pretend to humanity. I allowed myself to forget what it was to rule. I allowed myself to play petty power games out of boredom and I paid for it with 60 years of servitude. I will not forget again and I will not allow anyone else to forget, either._

"Does that mean that you intend to rule again? Will you restore the cult of Inanna? Will Anderson be your Dumuzi?"

_You will not speak of him that way!_ It was a lash of anger. _He is mine._

"Yours? Attached to a mortal so quickly?" Alucard allowed scorn to fill his voice.

_I will not have you question me, child._ A vine whipped out and drew blood from his face. Her visage was contorted, her vines were waving furiously and the shadows behind her roiled. Raw power rolled off of her.

"That's more like it. That's the vampire I expected to see, not some woman besotted with a fallen priest." He was taunting her. He knew he could push her over the edge if he kept at it. He was not going to forego his apocalyptic battle just because she had gotten in touch with her softer side.

She rose on her power and looked down on him. _I know you, Alucard. I know that you serve a human. That you lost everything you had and have been enslaved for even longer than I was. I know that you grow tired. I know that you wish to die. Don't deny it. It is why you throw yourself into every battle. It is why you are provoking me now. Even your child disappoints you at every turn. Would you wish to live if Integra Hellsing would spend eternity with you?_

"You will not speak of her!" Alucard found his guns in his hands and didn't remember drawing them.

_Attached to a mortal, Alucard? _She threw his scorn back at him, using his name as an epithet.

He screamed in rage and emptied his guns at her.

* * *

_A/N Okay, I lied. I just couldn't get it done in this chapter. I'm being taunted with the refrain of "five book trilogy" now. I_ know_ I can wrap it up in two more chapters - action next chappie and epilogue after that one. _

_Sorry Tornado, Anderson's crisis of faith has reached its peak. I couldn't kill him off, but in my universe he'll always be a bit of a different man. Still a complete murderous nutjob, but a different flavor of murderous nutjob._


	11. Denouement

Morrigan didn't move as Alucard fired the Casull and Jackal at her. The noise was deafening in the enclosed space. The vines waved, Alucard snarled and Morrigan remained motionless as though he had done nothing.

_Guns? You come at me with guns? You want an apocalypse and the best you can do is that? Alucard, I think you should go get some rest and come back to me when you've grown up a little._

The condescension was more insulting than her scorn had been. "I can do better than guns. You don't know what I have become." He called his hellhounds. They sprang from his body and he let go of his hold on his human form to spawn more. He could see so much more through their eyes. He could penetrate the shadows behind Morrigan to see that they were populated, although he still could not determine with what.

He pressed his attack. He wanted to taste her ancient blood. He wanted to make her pay for making him lose his temper. He wanted her to hurt and he wanted her to hurt him.

The vines carried her back into the shadows. They enveloped her form and he saw for the first time that the restless darkness behind her was filled with ravens – the carrion birds that legend tied to the Morrigan. Their red eyes glared and they launched themselves at the hellhounds. Where the hellhounds snapped, the ravens dodged. Where the ravens dove, the hounds were blinded. Alucard roared at the pain as her counterattack struck home. The ravens cawed and it sounded like laughter.

_What is it that you have become, Alucard? A petulant child who doesn't know when to heed his elders? Boredom is no excuse for being impolite, boy. I'm not interested in teaching an impudent youth a lesson in manners. I have more pressing matters to deal with. _Again her vines lashed out. This time they struck the walls where Anderson's binding spell still hung. The pages were torn down and the daggers casually tossed at the still howling hounds.

Morrigan was lowered to the floor and began to walk out of the room. Alucard's hounds howled again. "You will not turn away from me! We are not finished yet!" He sank into the floor in a pool of darkness. He reformed in his human guise in front of her. "We are not finished, Morrigan."

_Are you dictating to me? I am treating you with infinite patience and you are not listening to me._ She held out her hands. Two vines thrust up from behind her and settled themselves into her hands. She now held two living spears and looked at him with unconcealed impatience. She stabbed up, piercing Alucard's chest and pinning him against the wall behind him._ I could suck you dry right now the way you wanted me to feed off of Alexander. Keep pushing, Alucard and I will not give you the death you so dearly desire, I will find a better way to punish you._

Alucard began to laugh. He laughed until it seemed that all hold he may have had on sanity had fled. He laughed as his chest split around the spears and he slid to the ground, leaving hideous wounds that he didn't seem to notice at all. "You will punish me? Oh do punish me, Morrigan. _Punish me!_" He shouted the last words as he leapt at her. He collided with her and pushed her backward onto the floor with the smaller vampire pinned under him. He whispered huskily in her ear, "Punish me, Morrigan. Take your vengeance. Show me your rage. Show me the wrath of a goddess, Morrigan."

He was easily plucked off of her and tossed through the wall. Morrigan rose and watched as he stood, shaking fragments of wood off of himself.

"You're still hungry. They've kept you starved for decades. You want to feed and you won't be able to keep this self-control for long. All I have to do is keep chipping at the walls and I will have what I want. Give it to me now. Give it to me!"

She smiled and shook her head. Alucard roared as she sank through the floor and away from him.

ooo

The bridge of the zeppelin was filled with activity. Men shouted updates, people hovered over their control panels and the officer in charge was yelling for someone to find the damned Major, things were going badly awry on the ground.

The man who first noticed the Morrigan's arrival on the bridge didn't have time to make a sound before he was lofted in the air by her vines. The thorns dug into him and he was an empty shell before his body could hit the ground where it was thrown. It shivered into dust in moments and all eyes turned to the newcomer.

The bridge was loud with the rustle of growth as it was filled with clutching tendrils. Every vampire was seized and drained in a matter of moments. A few had time to grab their guns, but the bullets had no effect on their verdant attackers.

When the greenery withdrew, Morrigan was alone on the bridge with the exception of a few blooming growths that took their places behind her.

ooo

Alucard felt her feed. He phased out of the wall behind her and surveyed the empty command center. The perfume of roses was almost overpowering.

She didn't turn, nor give any sign of noticing his presence. She was looking out the honeycomb windows at the burning city below them.

_Didn't your master give you a charge to destroy all of her enemies? She did not order you to play useless games with me. _She continued to stare down at the fire and smoke.

"She isn't my master anymore. She released the seals and she is too injured to re-impose them. I am my own man again, just as you are free once more." He didn't ask how she knew Integra's order, but he wondered. He hadn't felt her in his mind. Did she get it from him, or from someone who had witnessed it? Anderson, perhaps? "But, if I wanted to hold to her orders, you would be defined as one of her enemies."

She shook her head. _She has no reason to fear me. Not at this time._

Alucard laughed at the thought of Integra fearing anyone. "Integra doesn't fear. She doesn't fight because she fears, she fights because she is a warrior."

_So you do know respect for something. I am intrigued. Perhaps I will make an effort to meet this woman._

"You will not!"

_You are too easy to manipulate, Alucard. It takes no effort to make you dance to any tune I desire._

Alucard had started forward, teeth bared and hands reaching to grab her before the meaning of her words sank in. She was effortlessly directing his every action and had been doing so from the moment she awoke. She had made him dance and perform and he had not seen it. His hands dropped to his sides.

His inner conflict was unbearable. He wanted to fight, to destroy, to rend and be rent, but he did not want this woman to use him. He would be no woman's puppet ever again. He was not a human to be manipulated for her amusement.

He forced himself to slow his thoughts. He forced himself to remember every moment from the instant she had awakened forward. The only time he had actually struck a nerve with her was when he brought up Anderson. He was jubilant as he realized that she did have a place he could hurt her. He could make her do what he wanted. He would be the one in charge. He would still have his battle.

"You're right. I have been easy to manipulate. You have shown me the error of my ways. I will leave and fulfill Sir Integra's order. I will kill every one of her enemies on the ground and in the air." He sank through the floor.

ooo

Back on the ground it was still chaotic. The air was thick with a pall of smoke that blocked the sun. London reeked with the stench of butchery. Alucard released his slaves once more and began the delightful task of killing every German and every Catholic he could find. It was soothing to immerse himself in death. It helped him to calm himself after that woman's provocations. As he cut through the living, he amused himself with fantasies of her rage when he ripped her little regenerator apart and the fight that would follow.

He paused for a moment when the zeppelin he had been on exploded. Debris rained down on the city. He could feel that Morrigan was still nearby, but he couldn't pinpoint her location. He smiled. She would come to him when he was ready for her.

Eventually he caught Anderson's scent again. He knew the priest wouldn't have left the fight. He would be there until his end. The Iscariot had rallied some of his cohorts and they were doing an admirable job of killing the Nazis around them. Alucard watched from a distance for a few minutes. Anderson had been fun to play with and it was fitting that his final use would bring Alucard something he so dearly desired. He felt almost fond of that crazy priest for being his ticket to such a wonderful climax to the day.

Eventually he tired of watching and swept down into the thick of the Catholics. A berserk little nun ran at him with a sword. He casually knocked her away. Yumie was flung against a wall and slid to the ground, dead or unconscious. He listened for a moment. Unconscious. Maybe he'd feed from her later. Virgin nuns were so rare and delicious.

Another woman was pricking him with her silver bullets. He turned his back to Anderson, commanding some of his slaves to run interference as he advanced on her. She was interesting as well. Section XIII came up with the most intriguing people. He wondered how this woman had gotten dispensation to run around in priest's robes. She must be something special to get that sort of treatment. He completely ignored Anderson's shouts and backed the delicious woman against a wall. She punched him in the face and if he'd been human, he probably would have broken bones and missing teeth. Instead he grabbed her hands and grinned at her. He pressed his face against hers, inhaling, bringing her scent into him and savoring her fear and anger.

He was just about to drink from her when Anderson's hands pulled him away and spun him into a vicious head butt. At the same time his intended prey shoved her guns into his back and shot into his kidneys. He may not have much use for those organs, but it still hurt like hell to have blessed silver blast through them. He snarled in Anderson's face.

Anderson backed up, "Come on ye bastard. Come fight someone who can fight back!"

Alucard laughed to hear the woman behind him mutter, "Thanks a lot," in a tone that was anything but thankful. Maybe she should be his next child. She had more spirit than Seras. He sent a command to his slaves not to harm her while he was busy.

"Yes, let us say our final good byes." Alucard moved in to grapple Anderson. As they tumbled across the ground, Alucard could smell roses. "You smell of her, Judas Priest."

Anderson's eyes narrowed and he brought his knee up into Alucard's midsection. "Ye're not worthy of knowing what She smells like, demon."

Alucard was shocked. He was clearly and completely taken aback. Of all the reactions he had expected from Anderson, a defense of Morrigan was not anywhere on the list. His surprise gave Anderson enough leeway to fling Alucard off of him onto the ground. The priest rolled over and lunged at Alucard as he lay unmoving a few feet away.

Anderson shoved two knives into Alucard and was rewarded with not groans, moans or screams, but a terrible laugh. Alucard began laughing and did not stop. He rolled on the ground laughing hysterically. Anderson stabbed the vampire again and again and the laughter only escalated. He was beginning to think that his old enemy had finally snapped when Alucard's laughter cut off and his eyes locked with Anderson's.

Alucard had taken him by surprise and the vampire caught Anderson's mind before he could put up any defenses. A bloody veil obscured Anderson's vision and when it cleared, Alucard had pinned him to the ground and was staring intently into his eyes. He could feel the same violation of his mind that the Morrigan had inflicted on him earlier, but the vampire was only searching for one thing. He felt the memories of what Morrigan had shown him seized and examined. He relived every moment of the glory and terror she had revealed and relived the moment when he fell.

Alucard drew back. He threw back his head and laughed. Anderson bucked him off and pulled himself up. Alucard looked at him with delight as he stood, "_Judas Priest! _Such a fitting name." He leveled a pointing finger at Anderson, "Apostate!" His laughter rang out above the sounds of battle.

_I told you he is mine!_ Alucard's laugh cut off abruptly as an angry shout hit him with an almost physical force.

The Morrigan appeared. She rose up from the ground in a fury. Humans and vampires alike shouted in fear. Alucard merely watched her, looking smug.

Her vines spread out around them, filling the street. Shadows moved restlessly around them. She rose into the air and looked down on Alucard with rage reflected by the lashing of both the rose vines and her hair.

A vine reached out and pinioned Alucard. He could feel the thorns dig into him and his blood flow out of him and into her. _I have no more patience for you._

She turned and looked at Anderson. Alucard was not privy to what passed between them, but after a moment Anderson looked to the remaining Iscariots and shouted orders to withdraw. He retrieved Yumie from where she had fallen and exhorted the priests to hurry.

The German vampires were not given that option. Her vines showed no mercy as every one of them was torn apart.

And then it was just the two of them.

Alucard had allowed himself to be restrained. He knew that she would not back down now and felt that he could wait until the setting was right for their conflict. When she had her vine slam him into the wall and then came closer to look at him, his smirk began to fade.

_I'm going to hurt you now, Alucard. When I'm done hurting you, I'm not going to kill you. You're already getting more than I wanted to give you, I'm not going to give you release as well._

The vines descended from all directions and tore into his body. They scourged him like whips and then she tore him apart and waited for him to act.

The scattered pieces of Alucard began to laugh once more. They formed mouths and eyes and grasping tentacles. They wrapped around her vines and pulled. They sank teeth into her many tendrils and bled them as her thorns had bled him.

He summoned his slaves from their scattered places and sent them to attack her. They were met with hordes of ravens that swarmed in and plucked out eyes and gouged throats. After a time, the ravens flew into a central mass of shadow that broke apart into a pride of lions. The lions pounced and savaged Alucard's phantoms.

Alucard's hellhounds met the lions. The air was filled with a bestial cacophony. The animals bit and clawed, roared and howled. The battle spread, leveling city blocks that were already badly damaged.

From above in the zeppelins the watchers saw a tide of blackness spread over London. On the ground, Anderson was gathering his people as they ran from the center of the destruction. His Goddess whispered in his mind, telling him to get his companions as far from the epicenter as possible. She warned him not to stop until they were well outside of the fallen city.

The battle raged through the day. The vampires on the ground were swept up in the dark tidal wave that spread over the city. The humans that did not heed the screaming of their survival instincts to run, run, _run_ were sucked in and digested, mere fuel for the conflagration. Nobody that the darkness touched survived.

Near evening, the tide turned. Where the darkness had been spreading, it now receded. Slowly, slowly, the wreckage of a once proud city was revealed.

Eventually it was over. A dead silence settled over the wasteland. In the center of it stood one survivor standing over a fallen form. The limp body was picked up and a shadow swept them both away.


	12. Epilogue

Alexander Anderson sat in a refugee camp twenty miles from the ravaged British capitol. Of the more than 2400 Catholic warriors that had descended on London, fewer than 200 survived. Most of those were members of Section XIII. _We know how to fight hellspawn better than any._ He thought with wry pride.

He was fatigued to the depths of his soul and every time he closed his eyes he saw Alucard's accusing finger and heard the shout of "Apostate!" He could not turn his back on the commitment of service he had given the Morrigan. He didn't even want to. It was still very hard to live with himself when every aspect of his life before today had been governed by his dedication to Church and God.

She had told him to worship as he wanted. She had commanded him to continue his crusade against the minions of evil. Had She really changed things so drastically for him? He remembered again to the stories his gran had told him. Every Goddess had her partner. Every God had his Goddess.

If for now he couched his dedication to her in prayers to Mary, he thought She'd understand. "Believer yet not believer," he murmured and took comfort in his heresy.

ooo

Walter sat outside the door to Integra's hospital room. He hadn't moved since they had brought Integra in from surgery. He was in both mental and physical agony.

As soon as they had touched down in Birmingham and gotten out of the glider, Seras had attacked him and thrown him to the ground. He had thought she was going to kill him and submitted without a struggle. He'd long ago resigned himself to death and he didn't know how he could live with himself and what he had done to the woman he loved like a daughter.

The pain when she clawed open his back was enormous. He hadn't expected sweet Seras to torture him first, but he did his best to not fight it. He owed her for what he'd done to her with his wires. He didn't understand why she climbed off of him soon afterward and helped him to stand.

Then she showed him her hand. There were a dozen of Millennium's chips covered in his blood. She explained that she hadn't had a chance to remove them before but that she wanted to make sure that Millennium couldn't incinerate him when they realized he had gone rogue. She apologized for hurting him and held him and cried.

His back was healed now, but still pained him. His guilt was worse. Integra would live, but he had maimed her and she would never be the same. If he didn't think suicide the coward's way out, he would walk into the sun and hope that it would burn the taint from his soul.

Instead, he would serve. He would serve the Hellsing family until there were no more vampires or no more Hellsings. It was all he had.

ooo

Seras was sitting watch in Integra's hospital room. At least, she was trying to sit watch. The activity of the last couple of days had caught up with her and she was having a great deal of trouble staying awake. Every time she nodded off, though, she had to face the Doc and that was enough to keep her from sleeping for a while.

Pip had come up with an idea she thought might work. The lounge where she and Pip had first faced the Doc was completely real to all three of them but was contained within her. Pip had suggested that she could construct a cell for the Doc that would be just as real and would keep him shut away from the two of them unless he was needed.

They had just finished talking out the plan for how to do it. She was going to settle in to try to construct the cell and confine the Doc before she just couldn't stay conscious any longer and he was allowed to roam free in her brain. She wondered how her Master achieved control of his captive souls. She wasn't sure she'd ever see him again to ask.

They had heard that London was obscured by some sort of impenetrable darkness. Integra had refused to get immediate treatment at the hospital and had instead bullied all and sundry until she had a phone line and access to military intelligence. Eventually Seras (with Pip's help) had been able to argue Integra into getting medical care. She had asked the doctors to keep Integra sedated for a while, explaining that otherwise Integra would no doubt be up and preparing to storm London when she came out of surgery.

Integra would have to adjust to some new limitations, but she would live to lead Hellsing. Seras didn't doubt that Integra would soon be pushing the envelope in prosthetics as well.

_Well, are you ready to put the Doc in his cage?_ Pip interrupted her thoughts.

_Yeah, I'm tired. Let's get this done. _Seras' attention turned inward.

ooo

Integra opened her eyes and tried to focus. She was so tired. Even her eyelids were almost too heavy to lift. What had woken her? Seras thought Integra hadn't heard her asking the doctors to sedate her. Silly girl. Her head felt very strange and she kept remembering odd things. The drugs must be having some side effects. Integra hated the feeling. This is why she had never felt the desire to "experiment" with drugs and didn't even like drinking too much.

There was someone standing at the end of the bed watching her. She blinked, trying to make her eyes work for her. The drugs and blood loss were making it impossible. She fought on anyway.

The smell of roses filled the room.

_I see what he sees in you. _

Integra fought harder to clear her mind. She fumbled around trying to reach the controls for the bed before realizing she had no right hand to use the control if she found it.

_I'm not here to harm you or yours. I'm just here to return something you lost. _A weight settled on Integra's feet. The figure she couldn't bring into focus faded out completely.

_The seals are restored. Tell him when he wakes that his punishment is to serve.  
_

* * *

_Okay, I did it! Thank you very much for reading. I have had a lot of fun writing this. I have never written fiction like this and I haven't written fiction at all in more than ten years. I didn't expect to be so ambitious when I started out, but the story had a mind of its own. I have some ideas for another story set in this same AU. The best thing I can say is that I learned about writing while doing this and if I write another one, I will hopefully improve my storytelling._


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